


That weird Buck and Eddie friendship thing

by MikaTheMad



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Angst, Complete, Established Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz, Established Relationship, Fluff, Kissing, M/M, Nightmares, Panic Attacks, Relationship Reveal, Secret Relationship, Sharing a Bed, They both need hugs and get them
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-18
Updated: 2021-03-23
Packaged: 2021-03-27 06:08:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30118329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MikaTheMad/pseuds/MikaTheMad
Summary: "That was close."Buck smiled at him. "It's okay. It was actually kinda fun. Now I kinda wanna know what else they'd buy as a weird 'friendship' thing we do."Eddie couldn't help the snort that escaped him. He looked at Buck with a grin. "Wanna find out?"Buck grinned back widely, mischief twinkling in his eyes. "Hell, yeah."---5 times Buck and Eddie successfully talked their friends into believing they were still just friends + 1 time they couldn'tOr: 5 times their friends thought they had a weird 'Buck and Eddie friendship thing' going on + 1 time they realized the two had been a couple the whole time
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Comments: 92
Kudos: 567





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

> Seriously, I have no idea what's happening, this is my third posted Buddie fic in as many weeks which means I probably need to admit that I _am_ invested in them. They are the first ship I'm heavily projecting on though, so maybe that's why.  
> This fic happened because I wanted to read it, so I wrote it, as you do. It turned into a 13k monster. Yeah, 13k, don't ask me. As mentioned in the tags, this fic is complete, I'm going to post a chapter every 2-3 days.  
> I hope you like it, have fun reading!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Buck is reminded of his own suboptimal childhood and how his parents treated him. Eddie is there for him. (Also, they almost slip up, of course, this _is_ what this fic is all about.)

The first time it happened they had been together for barely more than a week. They both knew that this was it, there would be no one else, for either of them. But it was still new after all so they hadn't told anyone and didn't plan to for a while more. 

They had all just come back from a call and Eddie could see that Buck wasn't doing good. He immediately disappeared into the showers without saying a word. Eddie followed him but he wanted to wait until they were alone and they weren't. 

The call wasn't exactly a bad call - no one had died and there were only minor injuries - but Eddie knew that wasn't what was bothering Buck. They had been called to help a young boy who had hurt himself falling from a tree. His brother - they had thought it was his older brother but the boys were actually twins - had called 911 and had also called their parents. The parents appeared half an hour after the boy had called them, when their team had already loaded the injured boy into the ambulance, despite them being at home, two streets away. Neither of the parents were worried, talking as if they had expected nothing less, their son a constant disappointment who could never do anything right, complaining that they had been in the middle of talking with some friends. 

Eddie knew Buck had immediately been reminded of his own parents, how they had never shown up when he'd been injured, how he was also never good enough for them.   
The only saving grace of the whole thing was that the boy's twin obviously genuinely cared about him. He didn't look very happy with their parents' reaction and insisted on staying with his injured brother the whole time and even went with him to the hospital. 

Eddie was finally alone with Buck when they were in the locker room. He sat down beside him on the bench, putting his arm around Buck's shoulder and drawing him closer. 

"Do you think I said too much?", Buck asked quietly, staring at the floor. 

Before the twin brother had followed the injured boy into the ambulance, Buck had spoken to him. "Take care of your brother", he'd said. "He needs you. It seems like you're his only real family." 

The boy's eyes had gone wide but after a second of surprise he had nodded his head emphatically, climbing into the ambulance after his brother. 

"No", Eddie answered. "If you ask me, the kid probably already knew what you told him anyway, even if it was just deep down. You just put it into words for him."

Buck sighed, leaning heavily against Eddie and letting his head rest on his shoulder. "I just hope he takes care of his brother."

"I'm sure he will. And the kid will be fine. He might not be able to count on his parents but it seems like he sure can count on his brother."

"I hope so." Buck was quiet for a moment, then he choked out a bitter laugh. "I bet their parents only wanted one kid."

"Probably, yeah", Eddie agreed. "Well, they're twins, they have each other." 

"Yeah…" 

"Buck, I know they reminded you of your own upbringing but look at you. You've grown into one of the best people I know despite the way your parents treated you. You had Maddie and that boy has his brother. I'm sure they're going to be fine." 

"Only one of the best?", Buck asked cheekily, obviously feeling better. 

Eddie snorted. "Well, no one can beat Christopher, I'm sure you're not going to argue with that." 

Buck laughed lightly, still leaning heavily against Eddie. "No, Chris is the best person on earth. No one can beat him, not even you, Eddie." 

Eddie had to smile. "I wasn't competing." 

He held onto Buck for a moment longer, then pulled them both up. "Come on, let's get going, I'm sure the others are going to start looking for us soon." 

Buck smiled at him. "Yeah." He pulled Eddie into a hug. 

Eddie closed his eyes, breathing in Buck's scent, feeling Buck relax against him, the tension finally bleeding out of him. Eddie felt himself relax too, a smile tugging at his lips. When he leaned back, he gave Buck a kiss on his cheek before letting go of him. Maybe he'd been a bit too relaxed. 

Buck's eyes widened a fraction as he looked over Eddie's shoulder, causing Eddie to turn around, groaning internally. Hen and Chim were standing in the door to the locker room, staring at the two of them with similarly wide eyes, in addition to raised eyebrows. 

"What?", Eddie asked, trying to pretend he didn't know what Hen and Chim were thinking. Also to get this over with as soon as possible. 

"Did you just kiss him?", Hen asked. 

Eddie rolled his eyes. "Have you never kissed your friend on the cheek?" 

"Yeah, but I'm a girl." 

"So?" That was Buck, finally back online. 

"I don't kiss my guy friends on the cheek!", Chim sounded offended. 

"Maybe you should start doing so", Buck grinned at him. 

Eddie chuckled. He decided to pretend as if he still didn't know what the problem was - he himself had actually never kissed a guy friend on the cheek before but Hen and Chim didn't have to know that - and turned to his locker to get the rest of his stuff. 

"Hm…" Hen sounded considering. "You boys sure there's no news you want to share?" 

"No, Hen, there isn't." Eddie could hear the eye roll in Buck's voice without having to look at him. 

"I'm not sure I believe them", Chim muttered. 

Eddie turned to him, staring at him with a raised eyebrow. 

Chim gave up pretty quickly, throwing his hands up in defeat. "Okay, okay. No news, I believe you." 

Hen still seemed skeptical but she retreated as well after telling them that dinner was ready and that that had been why they had looked for them. 

"That was close", Buck muttered as soon as they were gone, letting out a relieved breath. 

"Sorry." Eddie looked at him guiltily since he had been the one to mess up. 

Buck smiled at him. "It's okay. It was actually kinda fun. Now I kinda wanna know what else they'd buy as a weird _'friendship'_ thing we do." 

Eddie couldn't help the snort that escaped him. He looked at Buck with a grin. "Wanna find out?"

Buck grinned back widely, mischief twinkling in his eyes. "Hell, yeah." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The call they were on was... inspired (? sounds too positive, really) by something my best friend, a fotographer, experienced at work. One of her clients was a young mother with twins (maybe around a year old) and while the older was perfect and a genius and everything he did was perfect, the younger was treated completely different and the mother had basically decided that nothing he ever did could compare with his brother (like I said, they were maybe _one_ ). My best friend spent time with both kids between taking photos and said the younger one was the sweetest kid ever and, honestly, was probably just suffering from the lack of love he got. We are both pretty sure the mother only wanted one kid and now the 'second' one has to suffer the consequences of... being born I guess???  
> So this is me hoping that, in the future, those two twins have a good relationship like the twins in my story where the later born twin can still count on his brother if he can't count on his parents.


	2. Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eddie is _tired_. And he's clingy when he's tired.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to post a chapter every day because I'm needy and need validation haha  
> Also, because I need to write a paper and need Good Vibes and I really want to know what you guys think of the other chapters. I hope you like this one!

The next time it happened it was because Eddie was tired. Exhausted. Sleep-deprived. Whatever other word there was. 

Christopher had had a rough night, waking from a nightmare in the middle of the night and not able to fall back asleep. Eddie stayed up with him, of course, but to be honest he would have needed the sleep. He had had a 24-hour-shift before that where he hadn't gotten much sleep either. 

After getting an equally tired Christopher to school, silently apologizing to his teachers, he still had to do some work in the house, doing laundry and cleaning. By the time he could lay down for a nap he had barely two hours before he had to leave for his next 24-hour-shift. 

He slept through all three of his alarms, and, if Buck hadn't come over to check on him, expecting this situation, he wouldn't have made it to work on time. Eddie felt more tired than before after his 'nap'. 

"You're going to be so clingy in a few hours", Buck said with amusement when they left for work, Buck driving them. 

"Shut up", Eddie just complained. 

Because that was the problem; Eddie became clingy when he was beyond tired. He was still selective though so it hadn't been a problem before but ever since they had gotten together Eddie didn't need to worry about being clingy with Buck which meant he wasn't holding back anymore when he was tired. He wouldn't be clingy to just anyone but with Buck there - he would definitely be hanging onto him once he was so tired his clingy nature came through. And he was already working on barely 6 hours of sleep in more than 48 hours and he feared he wouldn't be getting much more sleep in the coming 24 hours either. 

He was right. It was another busy shift with barely any time to rest. Right before they wanted to get some sleep at night they were called to a big fire in a tire factory. By the time there were enough crews over that they could head back to the station it was six in the morning. 

Eddie wasn't just tired now, he was exhausted. He had taken a few naps every time they had had some time, never having more than half an hour and always waking feeling more tired than before. 

Eddie took a shower when they got back, almost falling asleep under the warm water. When he got up to the loft Buck was in the kitchen, making coffee. Eddie let his forehead fall against the back of Buck's shoulder, just barely resisting putting his arms around his waist, still somewhat aware that they weren't alone. Hen and Bobby were seated at the dining table and Chim lounging in one of the armchairs. 

"Want some?", Buck just asked, holding up a cup filled with coffee. 

Eddie took the cup gratefully, immediately taking a sip. He still complained though. "I want sleep." 

Buck chuckled lightly, leading Eddie over to the couch with his hand on Eddie's lower back. 

Eddie was pretty sure he was sitting closer to Buck than usual, judging by the look Chim gave them anyway. He really didn't care. He was too fucking tired to care. By the time he was done with his coffee, Eddie was half asleep and leaning most of his weight on Buck. He had hidden his face in Buck's neck, his eyes closed. 

"I gave you that coffee so you'd wake up", Buck whispered, sounding amused. 

"Too tired", Eddie grumbled, nuzzling even closer. 

Buck laughed lightly. Eddie couldn't even be mad at being laughed at, he loved hearing Buck laugh and, besides. He was way too tired. 

But right now, Eddie needed sleep and he needed to sleep with Buck in his arms. Or with him in Buck's arms. He really wasn't being picky right now. 

Eddie put his arm over Buck's chest, tugging at him a little so he would lie down. Buck was chuckling and Eddie was sure he wasn't using enough strength to actually pull Buck down but Buck went anyway and soon enough they were both lying on the couch, Eddie on top of Buck. Eddie rested his cheek on Buck's chest, his hands up at his sides, hanging over Buck's shoulders, closing his eyes in satisfaction. He was sure it wouldn't be long until he was asleep. Especially with Buck rubbing his hands over his back slowly. 

"What?", he heard Buck ask a few moments later. Eddie furrowed his brows, not sure what Buck meant. 

Another few seconds later Buck shrugged lightly. "He's clingy when he's tired." So Buck wasn't talking to him. Definitely _about_ him though. 

"Yeah, not with us though", Hen gave back, apparently trying to keep her voice down. Did they think he was asleep already? 

"That's because you're not his best friends." Eddie could hear the grin in Buck's voice. 

_'Boyfriend'_ , Eddie thought, too tired to open his mouth but grumbling a little anyway. 

Buck laughed lightly again, lifting one of his hands to card his fingers through Eddie's hair. Eddie groaned at that; Buck knew exactly how much Eddie loved when Buck did that. He was immediately almost completely asleep, only to be interrupted by the alarm once again. Eddie buried his face in Buck's chest with another groan, this one in frustration, not wanting to get up. Before either of them could move though, Bobby called out to them. "Buck, you guys stay here, let Eddie get some sleep. It's just a medical."

Eddie let himself slump forward again, hiding his face in Buck's shoulder again. Buck's fingers resumed their movements in his hair, lulling him back to sleep. Before he was finally completely gone he still felt a blanket draped over him and Buck.

When Eddie woke up again he was still lying on top of Buck, finally somewhat rested, even if he was still tired. It was completely bright in the loft, definitely hours after he had fallen asleep. 

"You slept through five alarms", Buck said quietly. He must've noticed Eddie waking up. 

Eddie groaned, finally blinking his eyes open. "Seriously?" 

Buck chuckled. "Yeah. Bobby told us to just stay here, saying you'd just cause problems if you fell asleep on a job. I told him you didn't get much sleep the last three days." 

Eddie sighed, lifting his head. The station was empty but at that moment the truck and ambulance returned. Eddie let his head fall back down on Buck's chest. He still didn't want to move. 

"They might not believe us this time. I've never seen you this clingy before and we were here too. They all saw how you acted, Eddie." Buck was definitely enjoying this. 

Eddie glared at him. "I do get clingy when I'm tired." 

"You weren't just _clingy_ , Eddie", Buck countered with mirth. Definitely enjoying this. "You were very vocal too about getting me to lie down with you. And groaning when I was going through your hair with my fingers." 

"You know very well that's how I react when you do that", Eddie complained, groaning when Buck did just that; carding his fingers through Eddie's hair again. For a moment he closed his eyes, enjoying the sensation before glaring at Buck again. Buck just grinned at him, pressing a kiss to the top of Eddie's head while they were still out of sight of their team. 

"Oh, someone's awake", they heard Hen say with amusement. 

Eddie looked over at her and finally got up, moving his head from side to side to crack his neck. Buck also got up, stretching. 

"Did you sleep well?", Chim joined in, grinning. 

"Buck's comfortable", Eddie just replied, being both honest and knowing Hen and Chim wouldn't know what to say to that. They didn't. They stared at him and Buck for a moment until Buck started laughing. 

"Next time we should really move to the bunks before you fall asleep on me again." 

"Hm", Eddie agreed, nodding lightly. 

"Hey, Eddie", Bobby said at that moment, preventing Hen and Chim from saying more. "Somewhat rested now?" 

Eddie nodded. "Yeah. Thanks, Cap, I really appreciate it." He got up to get some more coffee for him and Buck. 

"It's fine, it happens. Buck said you didn't get much sleep the last few days." 

"Yeah." Eddie sighed. "Christopher had a nightmare yesterday, we stayed awake for half the night because he couldn't fall back asleep." 

"Ah, I see. Well, like I said, it happens. You good for the rest of the shift? There's only an hour left anyway." Bobby was already starting their coffee maker. 

"Yeah, I'm good." Eddie looked over at Buck who was, by the looks of it, being interrogated by Hen and Chim. He couldn't hear them but he was pretty sure they were insisting that this - as in Buck and Eddie sleeping together like that on the couch; Eddie being so clingy with Buck - was not something friends did. Buck looked over at him, clearly sending a look that screamed _'help'_ but Eddie just smirked at him. Buck deserved it after teasing him like that and almost letting Eddie slip up. He'd go over to help Buck once he got their coffee and if he was taking a bit longer than he needed to, well, that was too bad for Buck. 


	3. Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eddie gets stuck underground for a while, bringing back memories that he'd rather forget. Buck is there for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one's a little more angsty. Hope you still enjoy!

Eddie had gotten stuck underground. It wasn't for long, barely more than five minutes, his radio worked and he could keep in contact with his team but he still felt a moment away from a panic attack even as he got back aboveground. Judging by the look on Buck's face he knew it too. Buck just pulled him to the side, keeping his hand on Eddie's arm. Eddie desperately wanted Buck to hug him but if he did he would break down and he didn't want to do that here. He couldn't. They weren't done yet, even if Bobby had given them both a break so Eddie could calm down as much as possible. 

So Eddie just leaned on Buck as much as he dared to, relieved that Buck knew him so well. Knew that he couldn't endure a hug right now even if he needed one as soon as they were at least somewhat alone. 

"You're okay, Eddie", Buck whispered and Eddie shuddered, closing his eyes. "You're above ground, it's not raining, thank god, and you're okay. You're out, there's no water in sight and you're here with me. I'm here with you. Okay?" 

Eddie nodded, not trusting his voice. He opened his eyes and looked at Buck with a small smile. He meant it, he was so grateful to Buck for helping him stay in the present, but he couldn't force himself to seem better than he felt like. "Thanks", he could just barely get out, not sure if Buck even heard it. 

Buck though just smiled back. He had heard it then. "I always have your back. And I always will." 

Eddie's smile became a bit more genuine still. "I know. And I will always have yours."

"I know", Buck echoed. "But for now let me have yours." 

Eddie nodded. He needed Buck and Buck knew it. His panic attack was a bit further away from him now that he had talked to Buck but Eddie was sure he would have it at some point this day. Even with Buck by his side, he wasn't able to keep his memories at bay completely. 

They stayed like that until the rest of the team was done, Buck's hand on his arm, Eddie leaning against him and Buck softly telling him he was okay. He wasn't drowning forty feet underground. 

In the truck on the way back they still stayed in physical contact, Buck's touch grounding Eddie in ways nothing else could. He was glad their team kept their pointed looks over their closeness mostly to themselves because he could not deal with that right now. Though he did see Buck glare at Chim for a moment so Chim must've looked at them with one of those looks at least for a short moment. 

Back at the station Eddie immediately went to take a shower and then went to the bunk room, Buck staying in his sight if he wasn't close enough to touch. It was after midnight by now and the chance for another call to come in slim enough for them to try to get a few hours of sleep. 

Eddie didn't want to sleep. More like, he was afraid to sleep because he knew nightmares were going to come and he wasn't sure how bad they were going to be. And, well, if he didn't sleep he didn't have to worry about nightmares, right? 

"You should try to get at least a few hours", Buck mumbled when he sat down next to Eddie on the bunk he had chosen for the night.

Eddie didn't answer. He knew that, knew Buck was right but he couldn't. 

Buck put his arm around Eddie's shoulder, the closest to a hug Eddie could currently endure without breaking down, pulling him closer. "I'll be here for you if you need me."

Eddie looked at him in confusion for a moment. It was only when Buck laid down on the bunk bed, pulling Eddie down with him that he realized what he had meant.

"You sure?", Eddie mumbled. 

"Yeah. I don't want to leave you alone right now, even if it's just in the next bunk." 

Eddie nodded lightly against Buck, trying to get comfortable. These bunk beds were not made for two grown men to sleep in together but Eddie was grateful Buck was staying with him anyway. 

"They will not shut up about this", Eddie mumbled with a barely suppressed sigh. 

Buck smiled at him. "I'm just taking care of my best friend."

Eddie rolled his eyes, then shuddered, closing his eyes, when Buck put his arms around Eddie, drawing him close in a light embrace, their legs tangled together. "Sleep", Buck mumbled, his fingers carding through Eddie's hair, lightly scratching his scalp. 

Eddie let out a shaky breath, leaning more against Buck and nodding lightly. He would try. But only because Buck was there with him and Eddie knew he would catch him if he fell. And he would fall, he was sure of it.

"Eddie. Eddie!" 

Someone was calling him. The voice sounded familiar, even through the water around his ears. 

"Eddie, wake up. You need to breathe." 

How could he breathe? There was water all around him. 

"Eddie." There were hands on his face now. "You're not drowning, Eddie. You're sleeping. You're having a nightmare. Eddie, please wake up. Please." 

He startled awake with a gasp, staring at Buck's familiar face right in front of him. He looked both worried and relieved. 

"God, you're finally awake", Buck mumbled. 

His face was starting to become blurred and Eddie blinked, only realizing a few seconds later that he was crying. Buck wiped the tears from his cheeks with his thumbs. 

"You're safe, Eddie", he whispered. "You're not drowning. You're safe at the firehouse. You're okay, you're alive." 

Eddie remembered bits of the nightmare he had had, of drowning, of being on his own, of almost giving, of being trapped again. He didn't get enough air into his lungs. 

"Eddie, you need to breathe." Buck's voice sounded like there was cotton in his ears. "You're hyperventilating, Eddie. You need to breathe with me, okay?" 

He wanted to shake his head. He couldn't. He wasn't getting enough air into his lungs. He needed air. 

"Eddie!" 

He jolted at that, looking up instinctively at Buck. 

"Good. Look at me. Now breathe with me." Buck put one of his hands over Eddie's where he just realized he was gripping Buck's t-shirt in tight fists. Buck forced his fingers to relax, putting Eddie's trembling hand over his own chest. "Breathe with me, okay?"

Eddie could only nod, trying to follow Buck's directions and failing multiple times before his breathing finally slowed enough for him to relax his other hand as well and collapse forward against Buck's chest. He was still crying, trying to hold back his sobs, holding onto Buck so tight he wasn't sure there was an inch of space between them. 

He felt Buck move his head around a little then drop a kiss on the top of his head. "It's okay, we're alone." 

Of course. No matter how fast Buck had calmed him down he was bound to have made some noise, first with his nightmare and then his panic attack, and their team was bound to give them some space so Eddie could get through this. At least he didn't have to worry about waking anyone now. 

He didn't know how long he was crying for until his tears dried out, Buck holding him through it all. Eddie was exhausted, wanting to sleep again - preferably without a nightmare this time. 

"Still alone?", he mumbled his question, his voice completely hoarse. 

"Yeah." 

Eddie lifted his head from where he was resting it against Buck's chest, putting his lips against Buck's, kissing him softly.

Buck reciprocated the kiss equally softly. Eddie just needed to feel Buck for a moment, needed to know that Buck was still there with him, needed to ground himself. He just needed to kiss Buck for a moment, caution be damned. Their own little bet for how long they could keep this going without the others realising they were actually in a relationship be damned. He needed Buck right now. 

Buck pulled back when they heard footsteps coming closer, Eddie leaning his head against Buck's chest again. He wasn't going to let Buck go so easily, even if they weren't kissing anymore. 

"You guys okay?", he heard Bobby ask behind him. 

Buck nodded. "We're okay." 

"Alright, I'll let the others know. Come up when you're ready." 

Buck nodded again. 

Eddie heard footsteps again, this time going away. He breathed out a sigh of relief. He didn't feel ready to face the others just yet. They all had nightmares sometimes, it wasn't anything new and it wasn't that he was embarrassed or anything. He just still felt too raw and needed a few more minutes alone with Buck to recharge before he could meet the others again. 

"Just tell me when you're ready to go", Buck whispered, carding his fingers through Eddie's hair. He loved doing it as much as Eddie loved the feeling of having Buck's fingers in his hair. 

Eddie sighed in satisfaction, relaxing even more against Buck, though… "I'm going to fall asleep again if you do that." 

Buck laughed lightly. "Alright." He stopped his movements but kept his hand in Eddie's hair. 

Just when Eddie was about to tell Buck he was ready to get up, the alarm rang. He sighed while Buck groaned. 

Eddie got up. "Come on." 

"You ok?" Buck looked a little concerned. 

"Yeah. I was just about to get up anyway." Eddie looked around, confirming they were still alone, stole another kiss from Buck and then led them out of the bunk room. 

The others all turned to look at them but Buck and Eddie just got ready. Bobby turned to look at him with a question in his eyes which Eddie answered with a nod that seemed to be enough for Bobby. 

"You ok?", Hen asked as they all got up into the truck. 

"Yeah. Fine now." 

Buck patted his thigh, leaving his hand there. 

Eddie could feel the looks again, especially from Chim, but he didn't want to deal with it right now. Sometimes it got a little exhausting, even if he and Buck now sometimes had their fun with it, provoking those pointed looks on purpose. Right now though, Eddie just wanted to be left alone, wanted to feel the comfort Buck's touches gave him without being judged for it. Well, he knew it wasn't really judging but still. 

"Didn't know you two were that close", Chim said, trying for nonchalant and not quite succeeding. 

Eddie rolled his eyes and could see Buck throw a glare at Chim. 

"Not really the time, Chim", Hen agreed with them, for once. 

"Thank you, Hen", Buck said. 

"Though I do agree", she had to quietly add then. 

Buck rolled his eyes this time while Eddie just shook his head with a slight smile. She just couldn't let it be. But at least they kept it to a minimum. Eddie could live with that. And apparently they had bought that this didn't mean they were more than just friends. They could keep their own little game going for a while more. Eddie was looking forward to it, to more fun circumstances where they could confuse and exasperate their friends. 


	4. Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's a get-together at the Grant-Nash house. This time it's Christopher who almost slips up.

The fourth time it happened it wasn't their fault. Not completely. At least Eddie thought so. Though, in hindsight, they probably should've been more clear with Christopher about what counted as "telling people my dad and Buck are together". 

They had asked Christopher not to tell others about their relationship yet, as they wanted some time just for themselves first. Also, so they could have some fun with their colleagues but they didn't go into the details of that with Christopher. 

It was a get together at the Nash-Grant house on one of their days off where it happened. The whole team and their families were invited for dinner so Christopher came over with Eddie and Buck. Christopher spent most of his time playing with the other kids out in the yard but he came inside when he got tired after dinner. 

Buck picked him up when Christopher stretched out his arms for him, Eddie taking his crutches so he wouldn't accidentally hit someone. Buck carried Christopher over to the couch, sitting down with Chris on his lap. Eddie joined Karen and Athena a few feet away, looking at Buck and Chris with a smile. That was his family. How could he not smile? 

Christopher took the glass of water Buck offered him and drank some before giving the glass back. "Are you sleeping over again tonight, Buck?", he asked then, unfortunately not quite quiet enough. Eddie could see most of their friends' attention turn to Buck and Christopher on the couch and to Eddie as well. 

"Yeah, I am." 

Buck spent most of his nights at the Diaz house by now but they still told Christopher about it most of the time because they didn't want to surprise him. Eddie supposed they hadn't talked about tonight yet with Christopher and since Buck had slept at his own apartment the night before to have dinner with Maddie, it was only natural that Christopher was curious. His timing though… Eddie could already sense disaster coming. They might not be able to keep their secret any longer. 

"Good." Christopher nodded with a smile, seeming satisfied. "Can we have pancakes for breakfast?"

Buck laughed a little, glancing at Eddie for a moment. "We can try to convince your dad. You know he can't resist the charm of the both of us together." 

Christopher giggled at that. 

Eddie snorted. Buck wasn't wrong, he really couldn't deny either of them much but when they teamed up together? He was a lost cause, his resistance nothing more than a pretense. 

At this point Maddie sat down next to Buck, a sly smile on her face. She was clearly up to no good and Eddie felt himself become nervous. Maddie on a mission was never a good sign for whoever was her mission. 

"Has Buck been sleeping over at yours a lot lately, Christopher?", she asked innocently. She was only fooling Chris though. Buck rolled his eyes at her. 

"Yeah." Christopher just nodded. 

"Do you ever get surprised when you get up at night and see him sleeping on the couch?" 

Christopher tilted his head to the side in confusion, looking up at her. "Buck doesn't sleep on the couch?" 

Aaaand that finally got the attention of everyone in the room. They weren't even pretending anymore to not be listening, like Chim and Hen had done until now. 

Buck looked at him with a helpless sigh, causing Eddie to shrug. They had to see where this went but they might just have to tell the truth at this point. Christopher had thrown them quite the curveball. 

"You don't think I'd let him sleep on the couch all the time with the amount of times he's been sleeping over, do you?", Eddie asked with another shrug, this time aimed at Maddie who was looking at him and Buck in turns. Eddie was trying to seem nonchalant, trying to make it seem like it was completely normal. It was, for them, just not for the reasons their friends thought. "I don't think his back would appreciate it if he slept on the couch that much." 

Maddie looked at him with narrowed eyes for a moment, then turned to look at her brother. Buck just smiled at her, shrugging as well. She turned her attention back to Christopher. "Where does Buck sleep then?"

The answer should be pretty obvious to everyone by now but Christopher answered earnestly anyway. "With dad." 

"Hmm…" Maddie grinned at that. "With your dad in his bed?"

Eddie felt eyes on him but did his best to ignore them. He kept his eyes on Buck - who was rolling his eyes at his sister again - and his son. 

"Yeah!" Christopher still didn't seem to realize everyone was focused on him and probably wouldn't know why if he did notice. 

"Do they just sleep?", Chimney threw in, trying and failing to hide the glee in his voice at what he, no doubt, saw as new material to tease Buck and Eddie with. 

Eddie glared at him with a frown, seeing Buck do the same from the corner of his eyes. They both knew what Chim had meant after all and Eddie didn't appreciate him asking his son something like that. Chimney at least had the grace to look apologetic when he saw them glaring. 

Christopher was thankfully still young enough that he didn't know what the question was alluding to. He was thinking about the question. "They hug sometimes", he answered then. 

That seemed to satisfy their friends as they started grinning. 

"I'm a hugger when I sleep", Buck shrugged helplessy. 

"Yeah", Eddie snorted, both because he could agree, now that everyone knew they slept in the same bed regularly and because it was the understatement of the century. Buck did not just hug people when he slept. He held on tight and you had no chance to get him to let go unless you woke him up, no matter if he was hugging you or you were hugging him. 

Maddie sighed. "I'm afraid I have to confirm that, Buck's always been a hugger when asleep, even as a kid." 

"How do you know about that though, Chris?", Hen asked with a slight smile. 

Eddie really wished their friends would just lay off already. Chris seemed to be catching on by now what his dad's and Buck's friends wanted to actually know. He could be quite perceptive after all and their friends weren't exactly being subtle. 

"When I can't sleep or I have a nightmare I sleep with them in their bed sometimes", Christopher answered and Eddie hoped no one noticed how he had said _'their bed'_. 

"Even when Buck's there?", Hen continued asking, apparently not having noticed. 

Eddie chanced a glance around and saw Bobby looking at him with a smirk though, mouthing _'their bed?'_ at him. He could only smile back, glad no one else seemed to have realized. Even Buck didn't seem to have noticed Chris' slip of the tongue. 

"Yeah", Christopher replied, yawning. He seemed to be getting tired. "Can we go home?" He didn't even look at Eddie when asking that question, just looking up at Buck like it was the most natural thing. Eddie knew they were on thin ice by now and Christopher wasn't helping them at all currently but he only felt warm when looking at his son and his boyfriend. How could he not? They were a team already and Eddie was glad they got along without him, that Buck felt he could make decisions for Christopher without feeling like he was overstepping and that Christopher had already accepted Buck as another parent, going to him instead of Eddie sometimes. 

"We probably should", Buck replied, looking at Eddie for a moment who nodded lightly. "It's already almost your bedtime. By the time we get home it'll be pretty late for you."

Eddie took that as an opportunity to get away from everyone's knowing looks and began gathering their things together. In the kitchen he was caught by Bobby who was thankfully alone. 

"You know you should be filling out some paperwork at work, right?", Bobby said, not even asking. 

Eddie looked at him, feeling a little apologetic. "It hasn't been that long", he said, admitting that Bobby was right in his assumption though. "Well, maybe longer than we realized. We were caught up in having some fun getting back at everyone for teasing us all the time."

Bobby snorted at that but Eddie could see the amusement in his eyes.

"Sorry. We'll take care of the paperwork tomorrow?"

"You do that. In return I'll let you boys have some more fun. Don't expect me to keep this from Athena though. But I think she noticed Chris' slip-up too." 

Eddie grinned at him. "Thanks, Bobby." 

Bobby patted his shoulder, still smiling as he left the kitchen again. 

They got through saying goodbye without any more teasing, thank God, at least not more than they usually got. It seemed no one else had connected the dots yet, apart from Bobby. Athena, though, gave Eddie a stern look that he didn't even have to interpret to know it was a warning along the lines of _'you better take care of him'_. She had noticed then. And she was terrifying. Eddie did not want to get on her bad side so he just nodded with a serious look on his face. 

Inside the car he let out a breath in relief. "Athena is terrifying", he laughed at Buck who seemed to be a little confused. 

"What did she do?" 

Eddie laughed again as he started the car and started driving. "She gave me a shovel talk with a single look." 

Buck blinked at him in surprise. "She figured it out?" 

"Yeah, so did Bobby. He told me that we have to fill out some paperwork tomorrow. Also told me he wouldn't say anything to the crew so we could have some more fun." 

Buck smiled at that. "He's the best. How did they realize though?" 

Eddie looked back to his son for a moment, glad to see Christopher was asleep in his seat. He still lowered his voice. "Chris slipped up. He said _'their bed'_ instead of _'my dad's bed'_. It was enough for them, apparently." 

"Shit, even I didn't notice." Buck put his hand on Eddie's thigh over the middle console. "Do you think the others noticed?" 

"I don't think so. Bobby was the only one I saw who had a reaction. We should still be fine." 

Buck let out a breath. "That's good." Then he laughed a little. "I wouldn't even mind if they knew but it has been quite fun."

Eddie grinned at him, leaning over to give Buck a kiss as he stopped at a red light. "Yeah, it has." 


	5. Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Buck is sick. He wants to work anyway. He is not allowed to and ordered onto the couch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The last one before the +1! I hope you enjoy :)

The fifth time Buck was sick. And grumpy. Bobby had taken one look at him when he came into the firehouse, had Hen and Chim check Buck over and ordered him onto the couch because he didn't even trust Buck to safely drive _home_ in the state he was in. Eddie agreed. 

Buck had slept at his apartment for the night because Christopher was finally feeling better after having caught the flu and Buck didn't want Chris to get sick again as he caught something himself. He had assured Eddie that he would be fine after a good night's sleep and between getting Christopher out of bed and ready for school and driving to work, Eddie hadn't had time to swing by Buck's place to check in on him. If he had he wouldn't have let Buck go to work in the first place, he'd have tied him to his bed if he had had to. 

Eddie walked up to Buck on the couch with a frown, both because he hated that Buck was still like this, still pushing himself when he should rest and because Buck had definitely caught this from Christopher. Chris had had a fever for a whole week and even though he was better and back at school now he still had a runny nose, was coughing every now and then and tired more easily than usual. Eddie himself had only felt a little under the weather for two or three days, nowhere near as bad as his son had had it and Buck seemed to have it now. 

Eddie put the back of his hand on Buck's forehead, his brows furrowing further. "How exactly did you plan on working today?" 

Buck groaned, burrowing deeper into the couch and below his blankets. He grabbed Eddie's wrist, holding his hand in place, probably relishing the cool touch. Eddie's hand wasn't even cold. Buck just had that high of a fever. Eddie turned over his hand so he was now pressing his palm against Buck's forehead. Buck sighed in relief at that, letting go of Eddie's wrist again. 

"You should be asleep in bed", Eddie mumbled. 

"I thought I'd be fine", Buck grumbled back, at least admitting he wasn't. 

Eddie sighed. The shift seemed to be starting slow so he had some time. Sure, there was other stuff he could do but he wanted to look after Buck right now and he didn't think their team would mind too much. So he lifted Buck's head a little, sat down on the couch and put Buck's head on his lap on a pillow. Buck smiled a little, snuggling closer. 

Eddie huffed a laugh at that. When his hand became as warm as Buck's forehead he moved it to his hair and carded through it slowly. "We've got a short shift today", he mumbled, just loud enough for Buck to hear. "I'll take you home with me later." 

Buck frowned, straining to open his eyes and look up at Eddie. "Eddie… Chris-" 

"You got this from Chris", Eddie interrupted. "He's not going to catch it from you again." 

Buck looked like he wanted to protest more but gave up pretty quickly and laid back down. "Okay." 

"That's better." Eddie petted his hair a bit and then resumed his movements through it with his fingers. "Go sleep some more. You need rest." 

"Hm…" Buck was already halfway to sleep if Eddie read him right. 

They stayed like that until the alarm rang ten minutes later. Buck scrunched his face up, startled from the noise. Eddie sighed but got up. He got to his knees next to the couch to look at Buck on eye level. "Sleep, Buck. We'll be back in a bit." 

Buck opened his eyes a bit, nodding mutely. 

Eddie leaned forward and gave him a kiss on the forehead before he moved to get up. He saw Hen look at him with a raised brow but just rolled his eyes. He didn't have time to worry about their teasing. He knew Buck would be fine of course but he still couldn't help worrying. Buck wasn't good at staying put and the fact that he wasn't putting up much of a resistance told Eddie that he had to be feeling pretty bad. 

When they returned to the firehouse three hours later - they had had two long, exhausting calls back to back - Buck was asleep but he must've gotten up in between as there was medicine and a cup of tea on the coffee table in front of him. Eddie checked his forehead again. As far as he could tell Buck's fever wasn't going down, in fact it felt more like it had gotten up. 

"He'll be fine", Hen said quietly from beside him. 

Eddie sighed and looked at her. "I know. He should've gotten this from Chris and Chris got through it too but still… I don't think I've ever seen Buck like this." 

"If you ask me that's just his body deciding to force Buck to take a break. God knows he hasn't rested properly in years." 

Eddie snorted. "Yeah." 

"He got it from Chris, huh?", Hen asked then and Eddie could hear the smirk in her voice without having to look. 

"Yeah?" He tried for nonchalant and he thought he was doing pretty well, actually. 

Hen sighed fondly with a shake of her head. "You two, really…" 

"What?" Eddie had to suppress a grin. He knew exactly what Hen meant and to be honest, he could do with the distraction. 

Hen threw him an unimpressed glance. "You kissed his forehead, Eddie." 

"Yeah? So?" 

Hen threw her hands up in surrender, turning away. "I give up. For my own sanity." 

Eddie almost laughed at that, quickly reining in his expression to seem confused when he saw Chim come over with some medical supplies. 

Chim started checking Buck over, even if the patient was asleep. "Maddie asked for an update every time we're back here and she will kill me if I don't let her know how her precious little brother is doing." 

Eddie smiled, he was always glad to see how well Buck and Maddie got along and how Maddie still fussed over her brother as if he was ten when something was wrong. He was happy that Buck still had one blood family member left who cared so deeply for him and he knew how important Maddie was to Buck too. 

"You're worried too, admit it, Chim", Hen taunted her best friend who glared up at her. 

"How could I not be worried? Usually this guy would be complaining about being fine and going on calls anyway and now he's just lying here." 

Eddie nodded his agreement. 

Buck started stirring at that moment, seemingly having been woken up from all the commotion next to his couch. 

"Eddie?", he mumbled, still half-asleep. 

Eddie immediately moved closer, crouching down beside him and taking Buck's hand. "I'm here." 

"Hm… Chris?", was Buck's next question. 

Eddie had an amused smile on his lips. "With Carla. You're still at the station, Buck." 

That seemed to finally wake Buck up completely, albeit slowly. He wanted to withdraw his hand but Eddie just grabbed on more tightly. He didn't care right now. He knew physical contact - especially from Eddie himself - comforted Buck and right now that was all he cared about. 

Buck caught sight of Chim and the medical supplies then, grumbling again. "I'm not your patient."

Eddie had to stifle a laugh because, in all honesty, sick and grumpy Buck was adorable. 

"Yeah, you are", Chim deadpanned. "Your fever has risen in the last three hours and you've stayed put without complaint which, honestly, is the biggest clue that you're feeling like shit. You always complain, no matter how bad you feel." 

Buck seemingly had to take a moment to get all that, his brain working slower because of the fever. "Well", he mumbles then. "Eddie's taking care of me. Feels nice." 

Eddie hid his laughter by leaning his forehead against the edge of the couch. They were so doomed. How had Hen and Chim still not put two and two together? At this point, shouldn't they be the oblivious ones here? 

When he had himself under control again, Eddie looked up at Buck, smiling a little. "Do you need anything?"

"Some water? A cold towel would be nice." 

"Okay", Eddie nodded, about to get up and not expecting Hen to press on his shoulder to keep him from moving. 

"I'll get it. You take care of him." She looked a little confused, which Eddie interpreted as her thinking that the two of them were still being oblivious best friends. 

Chim next to Eddie got up too. "I'll go too." 

Eddie followed them with his eyes, just catching the start of their conversation. 

"Are they really not together?", Chim asked in a hushed whisper. 

"I don't know!", Hen replied in exasperation. "I mean they've done weirder shit where we thought they were together and they weren't."

"And Buck's sick right now so it's actually pretty normal that Eddie's taking care of him, right?", Chim added. 

He couldn't quite hear Hen's reply but chuckled a little anyway. Eddie didn't even have to say much this time and they still believed they weren't in a relationship. Though Chim was right: Eddie would've taken care of Buck even if they had just been friends. Granted, he couldn't really remember a time when he hadn't been in love with Buck, but still. Buck didn't exactly have anyone else to take care of him. The only person as close to him as Eddie was was Maddie and she was pregnant and really shouldn't be taking care of a sick person. 

"Eddie?", Buck asked again. 

"Yeah?" Eddie looked back down at him. Buck seemed more awake now. 

"Did I slip up?" 

Eddie's lip twitched involuntarily. "No. They're still buying it."

Buck hummed in response. "Good. Give me back your lap. You were gone too long." 

Eddie snorted a laugh but got up and sat back on the couch, letting Buck use his thighs as a pillow again. "Sorry. Took a lot longer than expected." 

Buck just hummed again. Eddie knew Buck understood but he also knew that Buck just really wanted company right now, preferably Eddie's. Eddie couldn't blame him. If he could he'd also rather stay with Buck than go back to work. 

Bobby returned with Hen and Chim. "How're you feeling?", he asked Buck. 

"Like shit", Buck answered honestly, causing the rest of them all to laugh. 

"Alright, at least you're honest for once. I'll let you and Eddie go two hours early but that's still -" Bobby looked at his watch. "- six hours away. Stay here and rest until then." 

"Thanks Bobby", Buck replied with a small but genuine smile.

Bobby patted his shoulder then gave Eddie a _Look_. Eddie shuddered a little beside himself. That look said something along the lines of _'you take good care of him or you'll regret it'_ and it reminded Eddie all too much of the shovel talk he'd gotten from Bobby two days after the garden party where Bobby had figured them out. Buck's parental figures were terrifying. Bobby's shovel talk was worse than Athena's glare at him before that and Eddie still couldn't quite reconcile shovel-talk-Bobby with literally-everything-else-Bobby. He was pretty sure he'd had a nightmare about shovel-talk-Bobby once. And Athena had definitely featured too. 

Eddie could only nod at Bobby like an obedient son-in-law. It wasn't like he planned on not taking good care of Buck but having Bobby metaphorically breathe down his neck was certainly increasing the feeling of wanting to take care of Buck. 

"Alright, let's let Buck get some rest", Bobby said then, mostly to Hen and Chim. "If it's just a medical call you can stay here, Eddie." 

"Thanks, Cap."

Hen and Chim looked over Eddie and Buck pillowing his head on his lap one more time before leaving with Bobby. 

Eddie breathed out a sigh of a relief. If there was one thing that had surprised him after all this time it was that Bobby could be so terrifying. Athena was definitely rubbing off on him. And she would probably be very proud of him for it too. 

"I really want our bed", Buck mumbled. 

"Yeah, if you'd called me this morning and told me how bad you were feeling you'd be there now, not here in the station. Or at least in your bed at your apartment. Still better than here", Eddie reprimanded but he could tell himself there was no heat behind it. 

"I know", Buck conceded. "Six more hours?" 

"Yeah, six more hours", Eddie confirmed, glad they only had a 12-hour-shift today and that Bobby had given them two less hours to work on top of that. 

Buck sighed. "Too long." 

"You'll make it. And from tomorrow you can rest as long as you need, definitely until your fever's gone." 

"It took Chris a week." 

"Then you rest a week." 

Buck groaned, hiding his face in the pillow on Eddie's lap. 

"Buck, your body needs rest. And I will not let you back to work unless I'm sure you can handle it. And that means no fever." Eddie wouldn't back down on that. 

Buck was quiet for a while. "Fine", he mumbled into the pillow then. 

Eddie petted his head with a smile. "That's better. Now drink some water, take your medicine and go back to sleep, okay?" 

Buck did as he was told and obediently closed his eyes to sleep when he laid back down. Eddie could feel that sleep eluded him though so he just carded his fingers through Buck's hair and told him about the two calls they had had when Buck had been asleep. 

There were a few more calls where Eddie had to leave Buck behind but there were also two medical calls that Eddie could stay behind for. By the end of their shift - two hours before the actual end - Buck's temperature had risen some more but otherwise he wasn't feeling much worse than he was in the morning. Eddie still supported him back to his truck when they were leaving since Buck was feeling light-headed from his fever. 

"Did something happen?", Buck asked when they were in Eddie's truck and they noticed Hen and Chim staring after them. 

Eddie looked back at them with a slight grin before looking forward again, starting his car. "I might've kissed your forehead before I had to leave for the first call today. Also, we held hands for a while. And you said you weren't complaining because it was nice that I was taking care of you." 

Buck snorted and promptly had a coughing fit. "Three things?" 

"Yeah but I'm pretty sure they still haven't caught on. At least that's how they talked when they thought I couldn't hear them", Eddie grinned at Buck. 

"Are the oblivious ones really us?", Buck asked, slightly incredulous. 

Eddie laughed a little. "Yeah, I thought so too. At this point I think we could probably kiss in front of them and they would still think we're just friends. We might have to full-on make out to get them to believe us." 

Buck laughed too. "We might have to." He grinned mischievously at Eddie. "I wouldn't mind." 

Eddie really laughed at that. "Not while you're sick. You need rest."

Buck pouted at him. "I don't even get kisses anymore?" 

Eddie smiled, stopping at the red light and leaned over. He gave Buck a short kiss on the lips. "Short ones. The real deal when you're better." 

Buck rolled his eyes but smiled nonetheless. "Fine. You're no fun." 

"We can have fun when you're not running a fever anymore." 


	6. + One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's an earthquake, Eddie loses sight of Buck and they can't reach him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The last one! This one... got a bit longer because I put some angst in there. I couldn't help myself. I was a bit torn between just keeping it fluffy (but I felt like the one idea I had for that I had already read somewhere on here) but I had this slightly angsty idea for it and I quite liked it. So this is what you get, ahaha  
> I hope you enjoy!

They were on a call after an earthquake. Well, it was one call, sure, but it felt like all the calls they could get in 24 hours cramped into a few. The building they were trying to get people out of was half-way collapsed and wouldn't hold forever. In fact, everyone was worried it could come down on top of them if there was a slightly stronger aftershock than the ones they had experienced until now. 

They'd been here almost two hours already and Eddie frankly wasn't sure they'd gotten even half the people unaccounted for out. It felt like everywhere they went in the building there were people stuck, injured or dead. Sometimes they could only hear people call out to them, not actually see them, and had to hope they'd get to them fast enough. 

Buck and Eddie were working together as always, crawling on all fours to the next section of the building that might not be stable for much longer. There were still people stuck there and the team inside needed help getting all the injured people out. Then the earth shook. 

Eddie cursed under his breath. There were far too many aftershocks for his liking and he especially didn't like being trapped beneath a whole fucking building when they hit. Even if Buck was here with him. 

Suddenly, the ground below his feet gave way. Eddie scrambled to hold onto something, _anything_ , in front of him. His heart sank as the realization hit that Buck was behind him. 

"Shit!", he heard Buck cry out but by the time Eddie looked back his partner was gone and in his place there was only a hole, new rubble falling from above, filling it.

Eddie hurriedly pulled himself up, turning around and looking down, trying to see something. He couldn't see anything at all, even with his flashlight. 

"Buck!", he shouted down, not able to help himself and regretting it immediately. There were voices coming back from below him, testament to how many people were still trapped, but none of them were Buck. 

Eddie took his radio instead. "Buck." He tried to sound calm, waiting with bated breath for an answer. 

There was none. 

"Buck, come on, answer me", he tried again. Again, there was no answer. Eddie didn't know what was wrong, there could just be a problem with Buck's radio, he could be out of range for all he knew but Eddie didn't _know_. Buck could also be unconscious, he could be injured and need help. 

"Eddie, what happened?", Bobby asked then, obviously having heard Eddie try to reach Buck and the silence that followed too. 

Eddie let his head hang down between his arms for a moment, trying to control his breathing to keep calm. He raised his head again before responding. "The aftershock brought the ground down below him. He fell down. I can't see him anymore. More rubble fell down from above, too." 

It was quiet for a moment. Bobby was probably trying to stay calm too. "Give me your position, Diaz." 

Eddie relayed where he was as accurately as possible. "What's below us?"

"The underground parking lot. There's three floors of them." 

Eddie closed his eyes. "We need to get down there. I heard people calling out from below", he added, trying to sound professional. He was a firefighter. He was here to save people. Even if, right now, he just wanted to find Buck and he knew he wasn't kidding Bobby or the rest of the team. They all knew he just wanted to get to Buck. 

"On our way", Hen said over the radio before Bobby could say anything, meaning both her and Chim. 

"Stay where you are, Eddie", Bobby added. "We're coming to you. We'll look for him together." 

Eddie breathed out a sigh of relief. He knew they were family and wouldn't leave anyone behind if there was the slightest chance they could do anything about it but he was still relieved that he wasn't going to have to go after Buck on his own, that he wouldn't have to go against Bobby's orders to search for Buck. 

Eddie looked around while he was waiting, trying to figure out how they could best get down to the parking lot and how they could get the rubble out of the way. There were a few pillars and steel beams that looked relatively sturdy that could act as support for ropes and pulleys to lift the rubble out of the way. At least as long as there wasn't another aftershock. 

Bobby reached him first as he had had a meeting with the other captains outside and had the shortest way to Eddie. Eddie swore he heard Bobby curse under his breath as he saw the hole in the ground and the rubble that filled it now. 

"We'll find him", he reassured Eddie once he had reached his side. 

Eddie nodded, having cooled his face into a mask as much as possible. He needed to work, he didn't have time to be dealing with his emotions. If he let them run its course he'd just have a breakdown and this was really not the time for it. Buck needed him. "We have to", he still bit out because they did. They did have to find him because Eddie could not live without Buck, didn't even want to think about it. Couldn't think about it. 

"I'm sure he's fine", Hen said when she and Chim joined him a few seconds later. 

"Yeah. He's Buck. His luck is terrible but he somehow always ends up fine", Chim added. "Also, Maddie will kill me if he isn't so he has to be." 

Eddie's lip twitched a little. Leave it to Chim to all make them feel a little better about this whole thing. 

"Okay, let's start", Bobby said, bringing them back to business. 

Eddie shared his observations and thoughts from before the other three had arrived and soon they got to work. It took ages, entirely too long for Eddie, until they finally reached the first person on the first level underground after lifting away heaps of rubble. The woman was fine apart from some scratches, having had incredible luck. Hen and Chim helped her up to ground level where another team took over to lead her outside while Eddie and Bobby continued further underground. They had determined that Buck should have fallen to the second level underground, if not to the lowest level, the third. Eddie was wondering how the hell Buck could be fine after falling that far but they also saw a lot of things on their way down that could've hindered Buck's fall enough that he wouldn't have hit the ground too hard. Still, even just getting hindered on his way down would've left him injured. Eddie didn't like the thought at all and he realized he was closing himself off more the more time went on. Became quiet, just concentrating on working so he didn't have time to worry about Buck. If Bobby noticed - and Eddie was pretty sure he did - he didn't say anything. 

They found two people on the second floor underground. One of them was dead. The other was his partner, barely conscious and out of their mind with grief and guilt because their partner had shielded them when the building came down above them. 

It took all four of them - Hen and Chim having caught up with them after a few minutes - to get the two out and the living person up to ground level. They wanted to get their partner up to but they didn't have the time to waste on dead people, as harsh as that sounded and as much as it brought bile to the back of their throats. The building could collapse above them at any moment and they had to get the living people out before they could take care of the ones who had already passed away. 

"Let's go", Bobby said after they had taken a moment to get their bearings again. "We still have to find Buck." 

That got them moving again and Eddie pushed the experience just now to the back of his mind. He needed to concentrate on getting to Buck. 

It didn't take them as long to get to the third underground level, surprising them all a little. They were greeted by a woman sitting against a car, her leg obviously broken. Someone had taken care of her and, though the treatment looked makeshift, it was still somewhat professional. 

"Who took care of that for you?", Hen asked curiously. 

Eddie was already on his way, looking where the hell Buck could be. Or other people in need of help. He still had a job to do. 

"A firefighter", the lady answered and Eddie immediately turned back to her. As far as they knew no teams had reached this point yet. "He went on after treating me, saying he had to see if he could help other people." 

"Do you know his name? His house number?", Hen asked immediately, apparently having the same thought as Eddie. And Bobby and Chim who also looked intently at the woman. 

"He said his name was… Buck I think. I think the name on his coat was Buckley? I'm sorry, I wasn't really awake when he helped me." The lady looked at them helplessly. 

Eddie let out a sigh of relief that almost brought him to his knees. Buck was fine. At least fine enough that he could still take care of other people. Because of course Buck was down here, helping people, while they were up there, worried for his life and trying to get to him. And it explained why Buck wasn't here. He'd gone off to help others. Because of course he had. Eddie really loved Buck and he knew Buck wouldn't be able to stay still if there was something he could do but, god, right now he really wished Buck had stayed with this woman because Eddie needed to have him in his arms. 

Hen smiled at the woman. "No, ma'am, you've helped a lot. He's from our team, we're searching for him because he fell down here and we can't reach him." 

"Oh, I think that's his radio?" The woman pointed to the side where a radio lay abandoned in a pile of rubble. "He threw it away, said it didn't work anymore."

Eddie almost chuckled a little. At least that explained why Buck hadn't answered. 

"Did you see if he was hurt or anything?", Chim asked then and Eddie focused on their patient again. 

"I couldn't tell, I'm sorry. With you all covered in these uniforms it's hard to see anything, isn't it?" She gestured to them in their full turnout coats. "Oh, but now that I think of it, I think he was limping a little when he went on?" 

Eddie sighed. It was no wonder, really, if Buck's old injury was acting up now, especially if he had taken a three-story fall. 

Hen patted the woman's shoulder reassuringly. "It's an old injury. Thank you, ma'am. We'll help you get above ground now so you can get out of this building." 

"Oh, thank you." The lady smiled at her in relief. 

Hen and Chim stayed with her to get her up to ground level while Bobby and Eddie forged ahead again to look for Buck. And other survivors. Priorities. Eddie wasn't going to pretend he wasn't mainly looking for Buck even if he had now gotten confirmation that he should be fine. He needed to see Buck for himself before he could relax. 

Half an hour later they still hadn't found Buck. There were areas they couldn't reach which should've meant that Buck shouldn't have been able to reach them either unless he had still been able to access them at the time he had gotten there and something had changed by the time they got around. Then there was another aftershook that had Bobby and Eddie take cover beside a car. The building was letting out ominous noises that Eddie did not like at all. 

"Hen, Chim", Bobby immediately radioed when the earth calmed down as the two were looking for Buck in a different part of the parking lot. 

"We're fine, Cap", Chim answered. 

"Good, we are too", Bobby let them know. 

They weren't able to stay relieved for long though. The incident commander reached out to everyone, ordering them to get out. The building was too unstable. They couldn't risk anyone staying inside anymore. 

"I'm not going anywhere without Buck." Eddie stared at Bobby, daring him to say anything. 

Bobby just looked at him for a long moment. Then he sighed with a slight smile. "Yeah, neither am I." 

Eddie nodded, relieved again that this was their family. 

"Hen, Chim, you two go back up. Eddie and I will keep looking", Bobby said through the radio. The reaction was immediate. 

"Not a chance." 

"Yeah, not happening. Maddie will kill me." 

Eddie chuckled. God, he loved his team. His family. And he was so glad that Buck had found them and maybe, just maybe, this would finally convince him that his family cared about him just as much as Buck cared about them. 

Bobby shrugged helplessly. Eddie was sure he wanted to order them back up but they both knew that that held little chance of success when Bobby himself was disobeying direct orders. 

"Captain Nash", they heard the incident commander through Bobby's radio. "Where is your team?" 

"One of ours is still missing." Bobby wasn't beating around the bush then. Not that he was like that but Eddie had to admit it reassured him right now. 

"I know. But you have to get out now. This is an order." 

"I'm sorry, commander. We're not really good with those when one of ours is unaccounted for." 

Eddie's lip twitched. Bobby wasn't wrong but he wasn't usually the one at the forefront when it happened. More often than not they were disobeying Bobby's orders. 

"Okay, let's get to work." Bobby turned back to Eddie as if he hadn't just put his job on the line. 

Eddie just nodded. 

The aftershock had brought new obstructions that they had to get around, making it harder to meet back up with Hen and Chim. They exchanged where they had gone, both their teams having helped some people on their way and both having treated patients who told them Buck had helped them before they came along. They couldn't make sense of his route though, it seemed random, so they had no idea where he could've gone next or where he could be now, for that matter. 

Eddie was growing anxious. The building was becoming more and more unstable and he'd like to not have a death trap above them. Buck could have been injured in the last aftershock and he could've been injured before then, too. In fact it was very likely he'd been injured and had just pushed through on adrenaline. 

"Let's go back to where we came from", Eddie suggested. They hadn't been there in quite a while and for some reason he felt like Buck could be there now. It was pure instinct but he was willing to take pretty much anything at this point. 

"Yeah, we haven't checked there for a while", Bobby agreed and they went on their way. 

There were a few big pieces of the building blocking the way they had taken before, causing them to have to take detours. It took longer than they liked to get back to the hole in the ceiling they had come down in. 

Someone was leaning against the car they had found the woman leaned against. 

"Buck!" Eddie rushed forward immediately. 

Buck looked up at him, smiling despite being clearly beyond exhausted. Eddie got on his knees beside him, immediately checking him over. Buck had a few scratches on his face but seemed fine otherwise. Beside being tired and exhausting. 

"I'm fine, Eddie", Buck said quietly. 

"I don't trust you when you say that", Eddie mumbled. Still, he pulled Buck into a hug after looking over him once more, burying his face in Buck's shoulder. When Buck's arms came up around his back Eddie shuddered a little. He could finally relax. Buck was fine. They could get out. 

Eddie didn't know how long they stayed like that. He completely tuned out the other three next to them, just focusing on the fact that he had Buck in his arms and that Buck was fine. 

"Alright, we're ready to go back up, you two", Bobby said after a few minutes. 

Eddie breathed Buck's scent in one more time before leaning back. He looked at Buck who was smiling back at him, not seeming quite as tired anymore. Eddie leaned forward and gave him a short kiss before standing up, ready to help Buck up too. 

"Hold up", he was interrupted by Chim. 

Eddie looked at him and saw that Chim and Hen too were both looking at him with slightly shocked expressions. When he heard Buck chuckle Eddie realized why they looked so shocked. 

He grinned. "Well, have you never-" 

"No, you're not getting out of this one!", Hen interrupted this time. "Neither of you! You don't just kiss your friends. Even your best friends", she added when Buck opened his mouth. 

Eddie grinned down at Buck who was laughing. "I don't think we can talk ourselves out of this one, Eddie", he gasped between his laughter. 

Eddie chuckled, holding out his hand to Buck to help him up. Buck leaned heavily onto him as he stood, relieving the burden from his bad leg. Eddie just held on tighter, both glad Buck wasn't pretending and worried about him. 

"I think you're right", Eddie agreed, giving Buck another kiss on his cheek. 

"Guys." Bobby sounded exasperated, interrupting before Hen and Chim could say more. "Let's get out of here first." 

No one would argue with that but Hen still fixed them with a glare. "We're not done yet." 

The way out was, thankfully, relatively smooth. The incident commander was not happy with them, to say the least, but he still sent people to help them get out as fast as possible. 

"Fuck, is it that late already?", Buck let out in disbelief as they took in the darkening sky when they finally got out of not only the underground parking lot, but also the building in general. Eddie finally felt himself relax completely without the pressure of a collapsing building on top of him. 

"Our shift ended…" He looked at his watch, almost too tired to do the math. "Three and a half hours ago." 

Buck groaned against Eddie who was still supporting him and currently helping him to their ambulance. Buck sat down at the back of it, not resisting as Eddie took off his coat to check him for injuries more thoroughly. He seemed fine apart from some bruises.

When he looked up, Buck was smiling helplessly at something behind him and Eddie realized it had to be Hen and Chim. He had to smile as well. It wasn't quite how he'd expected them to slip up but it wasn't like planning ever really worked with their job. Besides, the looks on their friends' faces were priceless and completely worth it. 

"Since when has this been going on?", Chim asked, still sounding increduluos. 

Buck looked at Eddie for a moment who was still checking him over, leaving the answering to Buck. "Well… remember that time when you caught Eddie kissing my cheek in the locker room? It was one or two weeks before that." 

It was silent for only a moment. 

"That was months ago, Buck!", Hen complained. 

Eddie couldn't help laughing, leaning forward until his forehead dropped onto Buck's shoulder. Buck was laughing too. 

"Not our fault you guys always thought it was just a weird friendship thing we had going on", Buck joked. 

"If you didn't look like shit I would hit you", Chim threatened. 

Eddie just laughed harder. Chim would never. 

"And Bobby knew?", Hen asked then. 

"Well, we did have to fill out paperwork", Buck replied. 

Eddie leaned back again, smiling up at him and then sitting next to Buck since he was satisfied Buck just needed some rest and to take it easy for a few days. "He did figure it out at the party where Chris let slip that we sleep in one bed though." 

" _They sleep in one bed_ ", Hen repeated with a shake of her head as if she had just realized how obvious that one should've been. 

"How?", Chim demanded at the same time.

"Christopher said 'their bed' when talking about Eddie's bed", Bobby explained from where he had appeared behind Hen and Chim, startling the two. 

Hen groaned at his explanation, putting her head in her hand. "How did I not notice that?" 

"How did it go?", Eddie asked Bobby, a bit concerned because he was sure Bobby had just talked with the incident commander. 

Bobby just shrugged with a smile. "Captain Han might have to make a reappearance for a while but I should be fine." 

"Please no!" Hen immediately had other worries as did Eddie, to be honest. Chim as captain was an… experience he didn't necessarily need for a second time. 

Buck though looked very confused. "What am I missing?" 

Eddie chuckled, pulling Buck tighter against him. "We might've disobeyed orders to get out to keep searching for you." 

Buck looked startled, staring up at Bobby. He realized, of course, that that meant Bobby had disobeyed direct orders for him and had made sure to take the fall for their team too. 

Bobby smiled at Buck. "We're family, we don't leave anyone behind. I would do it again, Buck, no second thoughts. I'm just glad you're okay." 

Eddie could see the tears build in Buck's eyes and pressed a kiss to the side of his head. "Right, because we're 'not good at following direct orders to get out when one of ours is unaccounted for', right, Bobby?" Eddie couldn't help it, he felt mischievous like a kid on Halloween right now. Buck was safe and relatively fine in his arms, Hen's and Chim's reactions had been worth everything and adrenaline was still coursing through his body. 

Bobby sighed. "Don't let it become a habit", he warned them, causing them all to laugh. 

"He really said that?", Chim asked eagerly, always up for new gossip. 

"He did", Eddie nodded with an amused smile. 

"Well, we can't exactly disagree with it", Hen commented with her own smile. 

Eddie snorted, looking at Buck leaning against him, a content smile on his lips. "Yeah, we really are bad at it." 

"Alright, there's nothing more for us to do here and our shift ended hours ago so let's go back already." Bobby was still, as always, the voice of reason even after disobeying direct orders. 

Eddie helped Buck back into his turnout coat - he was starting to shiver, his adrenaline having all drained away already - and then helped him back into their truck. 

"Seriously can't believe you kept this from us for so long", Hen murmured on their way back, looking pointedly at their intertwined hands in Buck's lap. 

"It was fun", Eddie admitted easily, a smile on his lips. 

Chim shook his head with a scoff. "For you maybe." 

Eddie just laughed. 

"We have signal again", Bobby let them know from up front, everyone immediately taking out their phones. 

Eddie called Christopher without hesitation. He should be with abuela right now of everything had gone well despite the chaos of the earthquake. 

"Dad!" Christopher sounded excited. 

"Hey, mijo", Eddie smiled in relief. 

"Are you okay? And Buck?" 

"Yeah, we're both okay. We'll come pick you up soon, alright? We're on our way back to the station now so it won't be long." 

"Okay", Christopher replied happily. "Can I speak with Buck?"

"Of course, mijo." Eddie gave the phone to Buck with a smile. Buck had sat up the moment he had realized Eddie was talking to Christopher. 

"Hey, superman", Buck smiled as he greeted Christopher. 

Eddie didn't know what they were talking about but Buck grinned in his usual happy self. Soon enough they were at the station though and they both said goodbye to Chris.

Buck seemed to relax again and was leaning quite heavily onto Eddie as if his last strength had left him. It might have, Eddie definitely felt himself grow weary now that the adrenaline was wearing off. He was still more alert than Buck though who seemed half-asleep in the locker room, needing Eddie to help him get changed. 

"We'll take a shower at home. Let's go get Chris first", Eddie said, wanting Chris in his arms as soon as possible and not having the energy for a shower right now either. 

Buck just nodded and Eddie gave him a short kiss. 

"I think I need to ask Bobby to make a no-PDA-at-work rule", Chim said with a sigh. 

Eddie flipped him off. They had held back for so long and today was an exception. He was actually already holding back quite a bit right now. 

"You're going to have to answer a lot of questions tomorrow. There's money riding on this", Hen threatened lightly. 

Eddie just chuckled and even Buck in his half-asleep state did. Because of course there was a betting pool on them. 

"Tomorrow", Eddie answered eventually. "Today there's only getting Christopher, a shower and bed in our plans." 

"Yeah, I seriously need my bed", Chim agreed. 

"Come on, Buck, let's go", Eddie told Buck who forced himself to wake a little more as he got up with Eddie's help. 

Hen pulled them both into a hug. "I'm happy for you." 

Eddie smiled, thanking her with Buck saying the same. 

Chim also muttered something about being happy for them, then hurried away to get to his own Buckley. 

"It was fun to keep it from them but I'm also glad we don't have to be careful anymore", Buck mumbled when they were in the car. 

Eddie paused a moment. "Yeah. You're right." He was also happy Hen and Chim finally knew. They were family after all and it had been months now. At this point they were way past the _'they deserve to know'_ point. 

"Love you, Eddie", Buck smiled at him. 

Eddie smiled back. "Love you too. Let's go get our son." 

Buck's smile widened even further and he took Eddie's hand over the middle console once Eddie didn't need to change gears for a while anymore. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading all of this and leaving comments and kudos! <3

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked it! Comments and Kudos are appreciated :)


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